Krampus: The Yule Lord by Brom

Published: October 30th 2012

Acclaimed author and artist Brom raised eyebrows and pulse rates with The Child Thief, his grim, brilliantly audacious, gorgeously illustrated reimagining of the Peter Pan legend. So what does this innovative fantasist do for an encore? He tinkers darkly with the beloved mythology of Santa Claus. Set in Appalachia, Krampus the Yule Lord is a twisted fairytale about a failed West Virginia songwriter who gets ensnared on Christmas Eve in an eternal war between a not-so-saintly Saint Nick and his dark enemy Krampus, aka Black Peter, an ancient trickster demon. Krampus the Yule Lord is Gregory Maguire (Wicked) meets Susanna Clarke (Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell) in the realm of Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, as Clive Barker (Mr. B. Gone) works his dark sorcery from the shadows. Once again featuring Brom’s chillingly beautiful artwork throughout, Krampus the Yule Lord is a feast of wonder straight from the kitchen of Sweeney Todd.

This is a yearly tradition, it is simply not the holiday season without indulging into some Krampus inspired stories. Santa is really Baldr, an ancient Norse god and son of Odin. He was known for being all peace, love, and light, but was that the real story or was Baldr a great deceiver?

In this story, after Baldr dies in ancient times, he is reborn as Santa Claus. He takes over Yule and changes the holiday. This certainly does not please the ancient Lords.

Meet Krampus. Our villain, I mean hero, or is it anti-hero? Who knows, who cares. He’s awesome.

This is a wicked fun read that will send chills up your spine and motivate you to decorate your Christmas tree.